Photography , musings, and a love of North Dakota

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Panning for gold

I promised more pics from our Cold War Mancation trip to the Strategic Air & Space Museum. On day one I didn’t even take my camera bag out of the car; we just used the day to take it all in, climbing all over everything that could be climbed, with an occasional iPhone photo. I have grown to love the panorama feature, so I thought I’d share. You can click on each of these photos to pop up a larger version.

As I pointed out before, you’re greeted by one of my favorite aircraft ever: the SR-71 Blackbird. It’s simply breathtaking, and this one resides in a suitably breathtaking lobby for display. When you take the escalators up or down between levels you travel right under this bird, and it allows a true sense of how gigantic it is.

This is the main hangar. It contains lots of displays, models, consoles from Minuteman and other launch control facilities, videos, simulators, and rare aircraft. Here is where I got to see a U2, the B-36 behemoth, and the B-58 supersonic bomber. Those were three things on my aircraft “bucket list” before I ever even discovered this museum.

This is hangar two, containing spacecraft, a Soviet MiG fighter, a Space Shuttle bouncy house for the kiddos, and room for more aircraft. They have an Avro Vulcan bomber in back awaiting restoration, which is something I’d really like to see. That merits a return trip in the future once my boys are old enough.

Did I mention the SR-71? What a beauty. In addition to a ton of other cool items in the gift shop, many of which I brought home, they have a Hayne’s Owner’s Workshop Manual for this airplane. Its pages actually include extensive history and data on the aircraft, and if I wasn’t on a tight budget I’d own one. Someday…

You can check out more about the Strategic Air & Space Museum online, of course…that address is www.sasmuseum.com (opens in a new window). I recommend not only scheduling a trip to visit and support this facility, but to make sure you set aside two days to take it all in.